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eggs previously lay in the fruit develop into larvae stage(maggots) which feed on the tomatoes from the inside, causing faster ripening and rotting of the fruit. The larvae then move to the soil for the pupa stage when the fruits drop on the ground. From the soil, an adult fruit fly emerges and the life cycle continues.

Integrated pest management(I.P.M) method is recommended for maximum control of fruit flies. This will help surppress the populations effectively as they are destroyed at each stage of their life cycle.

Bactrolure trap, the only registered product in Kenya, is the only effective and sure way to manage the fruit fly populations in your orchard. At a minimal concentration of one trap per quarter acre, you are assured of better quality tomatoes in your kitchen.

below is a fruit fly trap photo suspended in an orchard.

For tomato farm, you suspend it slightly above the crop height with either a short pole or wire.

Some of the forums our team purposes to attend in order to join hands and partner with other stakeholders in a bid to reach out to more farmers and reduce post harvest losses. The First All Africa Post Harvest Congress & Exhibition that was held on 28th to 31st March 2017,at Safari Park Hotel. Our products have consistently stood out in the management of a number of destructive agricultural pests, that were previously difficult to control.

Through such forums, we are able to share the technologies with key players in the agricultural industry. There is also the advantage of creating networks with other organization for the benefit of the farmers and the Kenyan economy at large. we are able to air out the challenges that the industry faces to some of the relevant authorities and work out strategies that will be of benefit to the society at large.

much appreciation to our partners and to technoserve and rockafellar foundation for the opportunity.

Farmtrack Consulting Ltd, a consultancy firm whose mission is to facilitate farmers to engage in sustainable crop production. We are the only registrants, in Kenya, of Bactrolure, the only known effective product in the management of fruit flies in mangoes, avocadoes, citrus, and melons. In our mission to promote safe and ecofriendly agriculture, we visit farmer’s groups in all the counties to educate and train them on good farming practices especially in pest management. Apart from the Bactrolure, we also have got a wide range of traps for other pests.

FCM trap for the False Codling Moth. Destructive in avocadoes and citrus mostly.

Tuta Absoluta trap for the tuta absoluta. also known as leaf miner. A menace to tomato farmers.

Sticky liners for both white flies and thrips.

We encourage farmer’s groups to invite us for agricultural training and forums to share our knowledge and promote a sustainable agriculture.

You can bet it’s very disgusting!! Most people wonder how those maggots got into those fruits in the first place since they can’t even see their entry point. Well from now on you will no longer be in the dark. This fly is the source of all your troubles! Whether you have two mango/orange/pawpaw trees for your own consumption, or you have tens of acres for commercial purposes, this insect known in technical terms as fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) will definitely ruin your day.

Those maggots are the larval stage of it’s life cycle! Just to give you an idea of how devastating the fly is; it has led to the ban of Kenyan mangoes from the EU markets!!! Well, FARMTRACK CONSULTING has the CURE!

Bactrolure as shown in the photo, is your surest bet in the control of the destructive pest.

With the trap shown in these photo you can attract/lure all the male fruit flies within an area of a quarter acre. If your fruit trees are not evenly distributed in your farm, you can use 1 trap in every 10 trees that are planted within close intervals. Remember Bactrolure is a biological pest control product!!

Mango season in Kenya starts on October to March where there are several varieties but most common are apple (round mango) and ngowe (long mango) among others.

Although the mango tree is not indigenous to Kenya, it has been cultivated in the Coast Province for centuries.

Some of these are still productive, e.g. along the Tana River, and some of them have been given names which to this day are still valued. Kitoovu, Kimji, Klarabu, Punda and Mayai are of poor quality but better known are cultivars like Apple, Ngowe, Boribo, Batawi and Dodo.

Of these, a few have steadily lost ground to a generation of cultivars introduced in the 1970s and 1980s distinguished by greater resistance to anthracnose (Colletotrichum), powdery mildew (Oidium), their very attractive colour and good shelf life.

The mango industry in Kenya has expanded considerably over recent years, not only in size but also in the geographical location of commercial and homestead plantings.But this has been herald challenges for farmers, who are struggling with post-harvest losses, estimated at between 40-50 per cent and poor prices,with the major cause for post harvest losses being the fruit fly menace.

Can this situation be better? Let us do the math. A mango tree bears an average of 200 fruits per season. Therefore, a smallholder farmer with 50 trees can harvest approximately 10,000 pieces of mangoes per season. If the farmers sell the fruits to the brokers at the farm gate price of Sh3, the fruits will fetch a paltry 30,000 per season.The cost of a fruit fly trap is sh.370 which is enough to cover quarter an acre/ 10 trees. So for 50 trees you require 5 traps on the minimum, remember the more the better. sh.370*5 translates to sh.1850.This is only about 6.1% of the total revenue, yet there is guarantee of better yields and more revenue.

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has brought in five new mango varieties ; Haden, Van Dyke, Tommy Atkins, Sensation and Kent from Florida in the United States for the farmers who were previously growing conventional mango varieties like Boribo, Ngoe and Apple, which yield at most 200 fruits per tree. The new varieties, can yield between 1,000 to1, 200 fruits per tree.

No longer is commercial mango cultivation restricted to the Coast Province, as significant plantings of improved cultivars now also exist in the Eastern and Central provinces, among other regions.

As a result of this expansion, the mango fruit is becoming more popular with the local population.

Despite this increasing popularity, only a few consumers and potential growers are familiar with the characteristics of the many different cultivars of mango that are now grown and available in the country.

USES OF MANGOES.

1. Can be used to make fruit juice, jam, canned, dried fruit and much more.

Tomato farmers can now breathe a sigh of relief as there is a new sheriff in town.
Farmtrack Consulting now introduces the TUTA ABSOLUTA trap that is meant to control tuta absoluta, the most destructive pest in tomato. Thus helping in reducing losses from our produce.
tuta absoluta also affects capsicum, pepino, potato.

Above is a video of the tuta absoluta trap supplied by Farmtrack Consulting in a tomato farm in Kirinyaga county.

With the continuous market ban on fruits that contain chemical residues,both foreign and local, more farmers embrace biological pest control methods as Farmtrack Consulting takes pride in capturing the attention of international media.
more information can be viewed from the links below.

Farmtrack continues to expand its market coverage trying to educate farmers on the importance of using pheromone traps to surpass fruit fly populations, which are the most destructive pests in fruits. In the mango value chain, fruit flies cause losses of between 40%-60% of the fruit production, thus this is a compulsory undertaking by every farmer to ensure the traps are placed in the orchards to increase their output.
Farmtrack consulting being the only registrant in Kenya tries to explain how the pheromone traps work to the Deputy president of Kenya,alongside other dignitaries, at the launch of farmers incubation center in Kibwezi.

Farmtrack Consulting Ltd continues to shine, reaching into the hearts of horticulture farmers in the country, and beyond. Bactrolure and the FCM pheromone traps were featured in the “Seeds of Gold” of the Saturday Nation on June 18, 2016. We thank our farmers for having faith and trusting in our products. We shall continue to be your partner in ensuring sustainable and effective pest management for market sustainability.